


The Diamond Rose Theatre

by coolbattlegirl



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Acting, Alternate Universe - Dreamtale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Horrortale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underlust (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Belladonna - Freeform, Death, Detectives, Dreamtale Nightmare Sans (Undertale), Dreamtale Sans | Dream (Undertale), Drugs, Ghosts, Horrorlust - Freeform, Horrortale Sans (Undertale), Murder, Murder Mystery, Passive Dreamtale Nightmare Sans (Undertale), Quivering Flower, SCI, Shears - Freeform, Theatre, Underfell Sans (Undertale), Underlust Sans (Undertale), Underswap Sans (Undertale), cross - Freeform, dust - Freeform, i’ll tag as i go, killer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:07:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 14,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25434367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coolbattlegirl/pseuds/coolbattlegirl
Summary: ~A Horrorlust Fanfic~Tragedy suddenly strikes the famous Diamond Rose Theater when their lead actor is found dead below the platform during a performance. It appears they had fallen from the platform and died on impact. Yet despite how it appears to be an accident, something doesn’t seem right. Sheriff Dust cashes in a favor from his old friend Detective Horror to help him crack the case. As Horror begins to uncover more secrets, he finds that there is more to the Diamond Rose Theater then it seems.
Relationships: Horror x lust, Sans & Sans (Undertale), Sans/Sans (Undertale)
Comments: 142
Kudos: 27





	1. The Client

**Author's Note:**

> It’s time for Horrorlust (again)  
> I was inspired and I’m determined to write this fanfic >^<)

The skeleton stared at the monster who stood in front of him. Horror's voice seemed to die down in his throat as they turned to look at him. Their appearance memorized him, and yet it also terrified the detective.

The figure cocked their head to one side, almost curious about the new monster. "It's you..." they moved closer to Horror, their high heels clicking on the stone floor.

"I-I..." the monster now stood in front of the detective. They bent down and reached a hand to his cheek. Horror flinched at how cold their hand was. "Why... why are you here?"

Just what did Horror get himself into?

.

.

.

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep- *Click*

Horror sat up in his bed and looked around. The sunlight that passed through the curtains told him that it was now morning, to his dismay. He wanted to go back to bed. The injured skeleton let out a large yawn before slipping into his cozy slippers. Horror trudged himself into the bathroom and started his morning routine. 

After changing into a fresh new pair of clothing he went downstairs to whip up breakfast when he saw the time. "They must have delivered the mail already." Opening the front door, Horror walked over to his mailbox and opened it.

Peering inside he saw a letter that was sealed in a fancy seal. Curious he flipped the letter to the front where he saw written in neat cursive were the words Detective Horror.

"Welp... looks like work comes knocking at my door once again." Horror went back into the comfort of his beloved home and opened the letter. 

"My dear detective, I heard you're back in town. I can't tell you how happy I am. I know you'll relieve me of my worries. A while ago, I've fallen for the Golden Rose Theater's leading actor, Lust, and expressed my feelings for him. While he kept his distance from me to avoid the public eye, he reciprocated my feelings through his letters to me. **He** **even gave me a keepsake. Yet, for some unknown reason, he abruptly cut off out communication and refused to see me. I want to find out what happened and hope that you can get me the answer.** Your good friend, W.D." 

After finishing the letter he pulled the purple scarf from the envelope, that Gaster had mentioned in his letter, opening his inventory, Horror decided to see the description of the item.

[USE] * **[INFO]** [Drop]

_*A Keepsake in Purple:_ **A purple scarf made from extremely rare silk of high quality, and adorned with exquisite embroidery - it's a luxurious custom made item."**

Horror made sure to write the information down on his notepad, _"This Lust person must really be living a lavish life..."_ Horror debated whether or not he should accept the commission.

Gaster was a good friend of his. Despite their interests not being similar, he would like to see the other again. He wondered if the scientist was still interested in the beautiful-- drama, music, gorgeous beauties like in the past. He wouldn't know. He hadn't seen the guy in years!

"But... given his status...I might need his help in the future." 

***Accept the commission?**

***[Yes]** [No]

Well, it looks like he's going to investigate his friend's love life now. Besides... Horror couldn't deny that he was quite curious about this person his friend fell for. Horror grinned to himself, "Let's check out this "Lust" character who's captivated the notability in this town."

.

.

.

Horror stared up at the grand "Diamond Rose" theatre in awe. It was humongous and absolutely stunning. With how the building appearance looked it practically screamed "expensive" at the detective.

T-they wouldn't make him pay just for stepping inside right? Horror shook the silly thought out of his skull. That was silly! What kind of theater made you pay just for walking inside?

"..."

Hopefully, not this one. Steeling his nerves, Horror walked inside the grand theater.

The moment Horror walked into the "Diamond Rose" he was greeted by a gentle-looking staff member, who the others seemed to all "Blueberry".

Blue was really cordial at first. The small skeleton chatted happily about how beautiful the weather was, and how his day was going so far. "So, are you here to see a show?" Blue chirped at the detective, whom in return shook his head.

"No, I'm not. I'm here for business in fact." Blue nodded slowly, "My business requires me to speak with Lust-"

Horror was suddenly cut off by Blue, "Another fan? I'm sorry mister, but no. **Lust won't meet with an ordinary fan,** " Blue smiled.

Horror thought for a few moments before remembering about the purple scarf. "Perhaps this will make me less ordinary." Horror took out the scarf Gaster had sent him and handed it to Blueberry.

"This appears to be the work of Golden Shears..."

Blue looked up at the detective after they finished admiring the scarf, "I do believe you're no ordinary fan, mister. Perhaps you can have this invitation to the celebratory party after the first performance. Lust will be there," Blueberry suggested. That wouldn't do... He had to speak with them in private, "But I have something private to discuss with Lust."

Because the relationship between his client and Lust wasn't something to be discussed in public. **Yet this alerted Blueberry**. He frowned and looked me over. "No, mister not-so-ordinary. This scarf isn't as special as you hoped it would be." 

Horror tried to protest with the small skeleton, but Blueberry stood firm. Clearly wanting Horror to leave. 

Just as Horror's last string of patience was about to run out, a familiar voice broke the silence. 

"Look who it is! I was going to look for you when the rehearsal was over, but hey. You made my life easier. " Horror turned to see, "Killer?" 

**Killer was an old friend from the army, who came out from the lobby. Horror used to call the other "Killer of Ness" as a joke.**

Just by an exchange of brief pleasantries with him, the detective learned that Killer was now the male lead of this theatre. While Horror had heard about Killer's passion for performing, he didn't know much. **After all, his personality mirrored his name, so that he's not someone you'd want to get to know.**

Though, thanks to Killer, Horror finally managed to get into the theatre once Killer talked to Blueberry. "So you're here for some detective work now, huh?" Horror nodded as he followed after Killer, "Alright then... I'll try my best to introduce you to Lust after the rehearsal." 

Killer led Horror to the lobby, and introduced him to the playwright, before leaving for rehearsal. The playwright, who called himself "Sci", "So... you write all the plays here?" Sci let out a chuckle before shaking his head, "Actually..."

Sci explained that **he was just an assistant playwright. The repertoire was mainly composed of the director, "X". The director used to be a talented writer** , and Sci had joined the theater to learn from him.

"But money and twisted love had corrupted his talent," the way Sci said it made is mysterious. "Anyway enough about myself... what about you?" Horror thought for a few moments telling the skeleton that he was a friend of his client. And then Horror made the mistake of asking Sci about Lust.

Because after that, the young skeleton **went on and on about the many gossips about the theater.**

Like how the previous lead "Chara" fell to her death in her last performance, and how the director then received a sum of money out of ruins. And how the show they were rehearsing then was the sequel to "Chara's Coin", the swan song of the unfortunate female lead.

Horror could definitely tell he was enjoying collecting these gossips, yet when he tried to ask for more details, Sci began to bottle up. 

"If you want to know more, you should talk to 'Commander'. He knows everything." Sci pointed to the other side of the room, where sat another skeleton reading a book. "Thanks for the info kid."

Sci gives Horror a thumbs up, "No problem! Also good luck!"


	2. Gossip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Horror meets the Director of the show and discovers some interesting things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter done! I think this fanfic might have daily updates. (And maybe it’s because I’m so hyped about this)  
> I wonder if you guys can solve this mystery before Horror, but we’ll have to see =)  
> Anyways I hope you will enjoy reading this chapter! ^v^)

Turns out the person they called "Commander" was a sweet-looking monster (at least, he appeared to be). He seemed to be the theatre's Logistics Manager. They wore a circular crown on their head and had golden eye lights that reminded Horror of the sun. "Hello, Commander. Sci told me you might be able to help me."

The Commander looked up from their book and gave Horror a kind smile. "Please call me Dream. Commander makes me sound old." Dream let out a soft chuckle at the title.

Horror nodded and asked Dream about the previous female lease, Chara. Dream smiled sadly at the mention of the previous female lead. He guesses that they used to know each other. **While the** **Commander wasn't that interested in the topic about Chara, Dream had a lot to say about Lust.**

**"Lust's personality is nice, but he isn't that close with other members of the theatre. Yet the gentlemen in town flock to him and bring with them all sorts of gifts as if he is the queen. Or perhaps he deserves it? After all, he is like a queen on stage most of the time."**

"Most of the time?" Horror murmured to himself, the detective could tell that there was something hidden in those words when Dream said that. Commander seemed to have heard Horror as he nodded in response. 

"Yes, most of the time. **But** l **ately, his performance has been fluctuating. Perhaps that's why the director thinks he's inferior to Chara. After all, that woman might have died, but she delivered a flawless performance,"** Commander frowned as is he was lost is some bad memories, before shaking his head.

"Yet I think they are essentially the same. **After all, Lust is also a lunatic who said, 'If I can't deliver a flawless performance, I'd rather die before the curtains are drawn.'"**

Horror cocked his head in curiosity, "Also?" He questioned Dream. The commander nodded and sighed, "Yeah, Chara used to say the same thing as Lust... He reminds me of her you know." Horror hummed in response as he wrote down the new information into his notepad. Still, he wondered what made Lust say such a thing.

Before Horror could ask Dream any more questions, Killer walked into the room. "Yo! Horror!" His old friend called out to him. The detective turned to find his friend walking towards the duo. "Guess he finished rehearsal already."

The theatre's rehearsal took much longer than Horror anticipated, but Horror wasn't going to complain. Afterall the show must be perfect. From the corner of his eye, he saw the cast members come to the lobby after the rehearsal, but they didn't look well, almost as if something upsetting had happened.

Horror scanned the crowd to see if he could spot the famous main lead Lust, but to his disappointment he found nothing. Killer seemed to notice his friend's disappointment and gave him a sad smile, "Our queen wasn't interested in his people at all today," Killer said regretfully as he couldn't keep the promise he made earlier.

" **Perhaps that crown isn't suitable for him anymore. He isn't Chara; even Nightmare may be better than him,** " Killer exclaimed in anger before he could go on a rant a voice interrupted them, "Perhaps he only needs more time." A tall man wearing a dark purple suit stood behind Killer. Horror took note that **they were well-dressed and the detective could see the pleasing humility in his eyes, which Horror has so often seen in the past.**

"Killer had told me why you're here. I'm sorry that you've come all this way for nothing." The old monster smiled at Horror before introduced himself as the director. "It's nice to meet you, X."

The director nodded before furrowing his brows. "I had no idea that Lust was admired by that gentleman. If I had known I'd never have let that happen. **Lust has been overwhelmed by those crazy love letters lately, and so he had no choice but to cancel all of his dates."** He sighed in exaggeration. But the humble smile returned quickly. "But please inform the gentleman that he will get better soon. We will await his visit with the most perfect performance." X then handed Horror a beautifully framed ticket holder before politely taking his leave.

Horror stared wide-eyed at the ticket. Snapping out of it, he quickly stored it into his inventory for safekeeping. He then felt Killer pat his shoulder in reassurance. Horror smiled softly, "I'm thinking about going around and asking some of the other cast members about Lust."

Just as Horror was about to begin his quest when he felt someone gently tug on his jacket. Horror turned around to find a human with short brown hair, wearing a small frown on their face. "The love letters had **nothing** to do with it!" They whispered to him, their voice sounded agitated. Horror blinked owlishly at them, "Who-?" Killer pulled Horror slightly closer to him before whispering that **this was the theatre's stuntman, Frisk, an admirer of Lust.**

Frisk looked up and down at Horror before nodding to themself. "So you're the detective I heard about, right?" Horror nodded in response, eager to hear what Frisk had to say. If they were a fan of Lust surely they must have information about them.

Almost as if they read his mind they started to talk about Lust, " You see **if** **the director didn't compare him with Chara so much, and didn't give him so much pressure, he wouldn't have hit rock bottom.** And when he desperately needed help," Frisk looked at the people around them and started to speak louder, "You all actually go and choose to support that imposter! You bunch of-!" 

Someone next to Frisk gave them a tug and stopped them from going on. "S-Sorry, Frisk's j-just agitated. T-They doesn't t-think before s-speaking. T-they mean no h-harm to Nightmare."

Horror saw that i **t was a yellow lizard monster, who wore a white lad coat.** Her eyes roamed among the apprehensive people until Frisk grumbled unhappily in their grip, **"Don't worry, Alphys. Since you've helped me before, I won't tell the director what Frisk just said."** The girl whom Killer called Alphys, let out a sigh of relief before nodding and pulling Frisk away.

As the duo watched the two cast members walk away Horror looked at Killer, hoping for him to tell him who they were. "That's Alphys. She's usually in the theatre's stage control. She's a good friend of Frisk. She's really smart though she's a little difficult to befriend cause of how shy she is."

Horror had to give Alphys some credit for a shy monster, she looked like she was ready to defend her friends if needed.

"That poor boy still doesn't understand..."

Horror turned around to find a skeleton wearing a blue scarf. "Pardon?" Horror asked the new person, who in return shook their head, " **It's the goddess of destiny who gave up on their queen,** not us." Horror tilted his head, trying to understand what they meant by that.

"Killer who's this?" Killer looked up and perked up at the sight of them. "O-Oh! They're Error! He's the theatre's stand-in!" Horror couldn't help but notice the slight blush that made its way onto his friend's cheek.

The detective couldn't help but shoot Killer a knowing smile. Killer stared wide-eyed at Horror before teasingly punching his arm. "Quiet you!" He couldn't help but laugh at Killer's reaction. Horror then turned back to Error, to give the stand-in his attention. 

**"Nightmare has cleaned up his mess time and time again. But thanks to him, Nightmare's performance has improved a lot from the extended rehearsals."** Error looked off at the distance as if they were thinking back, **"When I was waiting offstage today, I didn't even realize it was Nightmare and not Lust on stage."**

Horror frowned to himself at the new information, _"So... It was the understudy on stage? Not Lust?"_

He wondered why Lust wasn't on the stage today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suspicious people everywhere... but most importantly why wasn’t Lust at rehearsal today?


	3. Golden Shears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Horror discovers something about the purple scarf that his client gave him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I might be a little too hyped for this... I just finished posting chapter 2 and then I immediately go and write chapter 3. And now that chapter 3 is finished, I can feel myself itching to write chapter 4 now. I have to slow down >w<) lol

"Art is creation, not imitation." **A skeleton in an apron walked up to Error and glared at him,** but Error didn't recoil instead the darker skeleton snickered in response.

"ArT? ThIs Is HiLaRiOuS cOmInG fRoM a MaId. Oh, Or DiD LUsT sAy ThAt, InK?" Before the two could get into a heated argument, someone stopped them. 

"That's enough, Ink. I'm exhausted from today's rehearsal. Perhaps you'd be willing to accompany me upstairs for a late afternoon tea." A skeleton with dark purple eye lights, in costume, broke the tension that hung in the air. Horror knew instantly that this person was the other protagonist of the discussion - Nightmare.

He couldn't deny it but, **Nightmare was beautiful. The energy that radiated from the understudy was different from Lust. Unlike Lust, Nightmare let off a tinge of sorrow and calmness.** Graced on Nightmare's face was a small frown, **"Also, it's the director who decides who gets to stand in the center of this stage, not destiny."**

With that, Nightmare glanced purposefully towards the other side too look at the spider monster with a bottle of perfume in her many hands, who Horror noticed hadn't spoken until then. 

"Get changed and have a good rest, Nightmare. You don't smell like the leading actress at all right now." The spider clapped her hands, " Everyone else should get home as well. The performances are about to begin and we don't want any more episodes." The monster didn't seem to care about Nightmare's hostile glare, and instead dispersed the miserable gathering as if she were the one in charge.

Before Horror could ask Killer who this lady was, his friend was already on it, "That's the stylist. We all call her the Fragrance Queen," Killer lowered his voice to a minimum. "For one, her sense of smell is particularly strong. **But more importantly, she's the director's confidant. She met X even before Chara. She's the true queen of this theatre."** Horror could see that Killer was clearly afraid of this monster, just by the tone in his voice. He watched as the other members listened to her and left the lobby in groups.

It seemed like Horror learned nothing (much) from this round of investigation. Just when Horror was about to leave, a short skeleton stopped him.

"Excuse me, I heard from Blueberry that you have one of the scarves I made?" Ah, He must be Golden shears. Horror took out the scarf and handed it over to the kimono-wearing monster.

"I'm sorry, but it didn't give me the honor of meeting Lust." The tailor hummed in response before they started to stare intensely at the scarf. After a few moments, Horror noticed a surprised expression on Shears's face, "This indeed is it... It's certainly one of mine."

If this scarf really was made by Golden Shears then why wasn't he able to see Lust? Then the answer that came next made him understand why.

"But this doesn't belong to Lust..." Golden Scissors gave the shocked detective the scarf back but not before saying mysteriously, "At least not now. You see this is something phased out by Lust because he no longer likes dark purple."

That was something Horror didn't expect. "I-I see..." he was dumbfounded at the information. So if it wasn't Lust who gave Gaster the keepsake, then who...? Luckily for Horror, Shears seemed to have more information, as he kept talking.

"If you would introduce me to your client, then I could give you some interesting news." Golden Shears took out a carefully folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Horror.

***Two designs: A design drawing with two scarves of identical pattern, one in red, one in white.**

***Open it?**

***[Yes]** [No]

The detective made sure to carefully unfold it. "This is!" On it was the design drawing for the scarf. Shears nodded and sighed, **"Nightmare likes the color dark purple. And he usually covets things that don't belong to him."** The tailor played with the hems of his kimono, **"Though if the trade is fair, I don't mind feeding his vanity a little bit."** Horror nodded before thanking the tailor for his help.

"Thank you so much, Shears. I appreciate it.' Golden Shears smiled and shook his head, "It's nothing really, detective." Shears waved Horror a final goodbye before hurrying off to his workshop. Horror watched shears hurry off to the distance until he could no longer see the kimono-wearing skeleton.

_"I guess coming here wasn't all for nothing then."_ Horror decided to look around the grand Diamond Rose theatre before returning to his office. "Might as well explore since I'm here already." Horror found at the front desk an introductory to the theatre group and took one. He flipped it opened and began to read the text.

It said here that the theatre was established 10 years ago. Its most successful show was called "Charas' Coin," a story about Chara' of a triplet of sisters. The entire family has high hopes that she would bring them eternal glory, but Chara broke down from the pressure and ultimately killed herself in exchange for freedom. **The upcoming "Death's Strings" is the sequel**. The story begins with Chara committing suicide by jumping off a cliff. Her sister Kris was the first to discover her death but didn't tell anyone. She had always wanted to live in the spotlight as her sister did, and so she decided to let Chara live on as Kris disappeared.

Horror set down the introductory and blinked. That was one hell of a plot. "Who the hell comes up with these kinds of things?!"

But thanks to reading the introductory, he managed to learn more about the theatre. Maybe he could watch the show later. Though it might leave a small dent in his wallet. The detective walked into a new room and found a gallery that had many portraits hung on the wall, of the previous main leads.

As he admired the paintings he noticed a name that caught his eye, "Chara Dreemurr". Wasn't that the name of the female lead from 10 years ago? Sci had told him about her. She had fallen off a platform during a performance and had died on the spot. In the portrait, Chara had short light brown hair and rosy cheeks. On their face was a smile. Horror couldn't help but smile as well.

After a few more moments of admiring the beautiful portrait, Horror moved to the next one and found no other than Lust. "Wow..." he whispered to himself, he could now see why everyone admired Lust. He was absolutely stunning! Horror stared in awe at the portrait, taking in every detail of the painting.

Suddenly he heard footsteps coming from behind him, Horror turned around, his hands in front of him like he was caught red-handed. "I'm sorry! I was just admiring... the gallery..." The monster looked up at the portrait that Horror had been admiring earlier, and the corner of their mouth went up slightly. "It's okay." They said in a soft silky voice, "I come here often to clear my mind."

Kind purple eye lights turned to look at Horror, who gaped at who it was. It was the main lead, Lust. "Y-You're... you're!" Horror could seem to be able to form any words at this point. Lust didn't seem to mind though, as they giggled at his reaction. "I get that sometimes." Lust moved gracefully to the window, his dress flowing behind his as he did.

"It looks gorgeous outside today, don't you think?" They turned to look at Horror, who frantically nodded. "Y-yeah! I mean, yes!" The actor's gentle laughter filled the gallery, "Ahaha~! You don't need to be so formal, dear." The detective nodded shyly at Lust, "What brings you here?" Horror straightened up and started to explain to Lust when suddenly the main actor's name was called.

The brightness in Lust's purple eye lights seemed to dim slightly, "It seems I must get going." Horror was about to protest when he noticed something, "It was a pleasure to talk to you even though it was short." He watched as Lust hurried out of the room.

"Damn it... I missed my chance to talk to him about my client." Horror sighed and exited the gallery, guess he might as well inform Gaster of what he learned. In all honesty, Horror knew that something was up with this theatre. Something just wasn't right about it. But he couldn't put his finger on it.

And then there Lust. When he had talked to the main actor Horror couldn't help but notice how tired he looked. Though with the show coming up, Lust probably pulled an all-nighter. He's done it before. But the nagging feeling that something wasn't right kept eating at him, but Horror pushed it down. 

~ Portrait of Lust ~

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally meet the famous main lead! Horror now returns to his office to inform his client about what he discovers. It looks like Horror has cracked the case... or has he?  
> See you (very) soon! If you have any questions about the characters I’ll be to answer!


	4. The Stage is Ready

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s the day of the performance...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> =)

Lust couldn't say that he was having that great of a day today. He woke up feeling drained and on top of that, he wasn't even able to make it to rehearsal. The director then scowled him for his absence, which added to his stress. Lust groaned and ran a hand across his skull. The pressure was starting to get to him. “I have to calm down... I just have to clear my head.” Lust walked down the long corridor, his high heels clicking on the stone tile below.

The actor could hear the musicians practicing in a nearby room, and he couldn't help but hum to the tune. The pressure that had previously wrapped itself around his soul began to disappear as he lost himself to the music. He twirled around the empty hallway, and let out a giggle as he did so. He couldn't remember when he felt this energetic without the- "Huh?" From the corner of his eye, he saw someone staring at a portrait in awe.

Curious, Lust quietly crept into the room to see who the mystery skeleton was. The crater that was in their skull interested him, but Lust knew better than to ask how they got such an injury. As he got closer he saw which portray the skeleton was staring at. "It's me..." he whispered to himself. Lust remembers the very moment that the painting was drawn. It had been one of the most exciting days of his life. Lust began to walk closer to the monster when they suddenly spun around, eyes wide as if he just caught him stealing something.

He couldn't help but giggle at their reaction. They reminded him of himself. "It's okay..." he reassured the other, "I come here often to clear my mind." They stuttered when they recognized who he was. The moments that followed after were the highlights of his day. He couldn't remember when he last talked to someone informally. Though he was quite disappointed when his work came calling (quite literally)

As Lust exited the area he realized that he never got to ask them their name. "Oh, dear... I guess I'll just have to ask them next time I see them." Though that was if he ever got the chance to see them again. The thought left a bitter feeling in his soul.

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

Lust opened the door to his suite to find the gift (that Frisk had told him about) sitting on his desk. The actor walked over to it and examined the beautifully wrapped gift, with a card on top.

 _"One of your fans sent you another gift."_ They had told him earlier. _"It's signed by a person called W.D."_ Yes, W.D. He remembered them. They had sent him all sorts of gifts, starting a few months ago. Which (Lust had to admit) was generous of them. Sometimes there would be flowers with cute little cards attached to them, other times there would be stunning gowns, and perfume. "I wonder what it'll be this time." Lust opened the card and knew instantly who really sent it. He undid the ribbon and lifted the lid off the box, and stilled at the item inside. It was "Quivering Flower". Lust slowly picked up the "perfume" and stared at it. The crystalline bottle gleamed in the light the mixture swooshing in its container as his hands trembled.

"Ah..." It was like his voice got stuck in his throat just by looking at the "perfume". Lust gently placed the fragile bottle onto his vanity. Guilt ate at his soul as he stared at the mixture. The actor suddenly realized how dry his throat felt, the longer he stared at it. He had to use it... he _ needed  _ to use it.

Lust sprayed the mixture, and the familiar flowery smell filled his nose and relaxed his slightly. The actor let out a sigh. The tiredness started to fade away. Lust smiled happily to himself. He felt so refreshed now!

"Alright! I'm ready now!" He announced. Lust spun around and exited his suite to prepare himself to go to dress rehearsal.

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

Lust took a deep breath before letting it out. Today was the day of the performance, and he couldn't deny that he was slightly nervous. "Which is kinda silly... I mean, what is there to be nervous about?" Lust let out a nervous chuckle. He had all his lines memorized to a T. He practically burned them into his mind. Lust walked over to the mirror to check his makeup, turning this way and that way until he was satisfied.

Everything had to be perfect for the performance. He couldn't make a single mistake. Not that he made any on the stage, much less during a performance. "He's going to be here today, so I have to do my best!" His younger brother would be watching tonight's show, and he was excited to show him how much his big brother had improved!

Lust did a little spin in his dressing room, before giggling to himself. He always loved spinning in dresses, he liked the way the dress flowed around him as he did. The actor's nerves started to calm down, and he let out a small approved huff. "Okay... I'm ready." With that said Lust exited the dressing room.

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

The actor peeked through the curtain and looked at the crowd. "It's a full house tonight." Lust nearly jumped at the voice. Turning around he saw Frisk smiling brightly at him. "Frisk! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" The teen's smile grew even wider, "You don't have a heart." They replied. "You got me there." They smiled softly and Lust, "Don't worry... You'll do great." Lust patted Frisk's shoulder, "Thank you." They gave him a thumbs-up as they hurried over to their station. "Go break a leg!"

The actor watched as the red crimson curtains started to open, and the spotlight came over him. Music started to play, which cued Lust who began to sing,

**Who am I... a dream... Or a lie.**

Lust started to move gracefully around the grand stage.

**Living on the praises lifted me high**

He could hear the praises that were written in his fan mail.

**“Bella Donna!”**

A smile made its way on Lust's as twirled around on the stage.

**“Bella Donna!”**

He could hear the audience cheering him on which boosted his confidence. Lust gave a wink towards the crowd.

**Who can hear “tick-tock”**

Lust closed his eyes as he heard the invisible ticking bomb

**Hiding in the crystalline**

The dark purple glass shined in his hands as he raised it towards the light.

**Time...Time’s up.**

The hand on the grandfather clock stopped moving and it started to chime.

**Dreams fade but I ain’t born to die**

Footsteps echoed throughout the empty hall, and they stopped at the entrance of the backstage.

**Open wide, your eyes, open wide**

All of the audience's eyes were glued onto the main lead.

**Follow me, focus all shining lights in my eyes, toxic eyes**

They stared at the actor who was performing onstage and smiled widely.

**Open wide, my eyes, open wide**

Lust did another spin and their eyes met with the other intoxicating gaze.

**Belladonna, more and more, as a throw of the dice**

Lust remembered all the hardships he had to endure to get to where he was.

**For stage lights**

The lights started to dim and Lust faced the audience once more.

**For which I’m born to die.**

Lust closed his eyes and reached towards the sky, as the music started to fade.

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

"Where's Lust?!" Frisk whispered frantically to Alphys as the next act started to begin. Alphys pointed up to the platform, "H-He's already u-up there..." Frisk frowned slightly at this. Lust had already gone to the platform? Frisk swore that he didn't see the actor go up there... "Huh... I guess I didn't see him."

Brushing off the odd feeling, Frisk went back to managing the lights. They dimmed the lights and announced to the audience that act two was now going to begin. The chattering from the audience slowly died down as they waited for the play to begin. Alphys gave the orchestra an okay, and they started the music. Timing the lighting right, Frisk turned the lights back on, only to freeze at what he saw. They heard screams erupt from the crowd as they began to panic. Lying face down and unmoving below the platform was no other than Lust.

"M-Medic! Someone get a medic!" Frisk screamed at everyone around them. The teen rushed over to Lust and turned the actor over to his back. If it had been any other situation, it would have looked like Lust had been sleeping, with how peaceful their expression was. "L-Lust! Stay with me!" Frisk gently shook the fallen actor, trying to get a reaction out of them. 

**"LUST!"** Frisk turned around to see a nicely dressed skeleton in a black suit next to him. Frisk couldn't recognize who this person was, but they seemed familiar. "Who are you?" Frisk wanted to ask the other when he was practically shoved off of the fallen monster.

Frisk looked up when he noticed a dark purple scarf land gently on the floor. Thinking that the item belongs to Lust, Frisk quickly grabbed the silk fabric before anyone could step on it. Frisk turned around and found a medic kneeling next to Lust. They examined Lust and shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry... but I'm afraid it's too late..." The commotion that was going around Frisk slowly started to fade away at those words. "No... It... It can't be..." tears fell from their eyes as they stared at the body of the one they looked up to so much.

**"NOOOOOOO!"**

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

The accident happened shortly after the performance began at 7 o'clock in the evening. The lead actor appeared on the platform and delivered his dialogue. Afterward, the lights dimmed and the music began to play. When the lights came on again, people found Lust lying face down below the platform, and the purple scarf he carried around also came falling down. Lust was dead by the time the doctor arrived. The preliminary investigation revealed that the security rope on the side of the platform where he fell was loose, probably caused by the inertial pull of the fall...

***And Horror wouldn't find out about the accident until two days later...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, dear... it seems that the main lead has fallen from the platform... how tragic...
> 
> (Song does not belong to me)  
> (Song name: Bella Donna! Bella Donna!


	5. Fate Repeats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Detective Horror on the case!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just gonna let you know the image is a gif so... yeah!

Dear Detective,

Two days ago, Diamond Rose Theatre's lead actor, Lust, fell from a platform during a performance.  ** He was already dead when the police arrived on the scene. ** Apart from the general audience, that gentleman was also at the scene. (You must know more about this than I do.) When Lust died, the purple scarf he gave to the gentleman as a keepsake was found in his pocket. The gentleman must have been shocked by what he saw.  ** He demanded that we find out what had happened as soon as possible, ** yet he wouldn't let us examine Lust’s body. (He said he wanted Lust to remain flawless even when he had died.) We're at an impasse. Given how you do owe me a favor, you must help me this time around. See you soon Horror.

Your friend,

Sheriff Dust

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

The letter fell from Horror's hand as he stood shocked at the news. Lust was dead? It sounded almost impossible. Horror shook his head in disbelief. He saw the actor not long ago, and now he was dead? Horror couldn't wrap his head around the fact. He knew something wasn't right! He couldn't have helped Lust! "I... I could have helped him..." the detective placed his face into his hands, "I might have been able to prevent this..." The dark circles under Lust's eye sockets flashed through his head. "It's silly..." Horror murmured to himself, "I only knew him for a few seconds and yet..." Why does my heartache from your death?

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

The detective looked up at the enormous building, it seemed to look less cheerful and grand last time he visited. Maybe it was because it knew of the tragedy that had struck. Horror sighed, he never thought his return to the Diamond Rose Theatre would be for a grim reason. Entering the theatre, Horror was greeted by his good old friend, Dust. "It's nice to see you, Horror." Dust hugged Horror and gave him a pat on the back. "Though I wish the reason that we were able to see each other again wasn't caused by such a gloomy reason." Horror let out a chuckle, despite it not being humorous. 

"Me too buddy... me too." Dust gestured for the detective to follow him, which Horror obliged to. "Where are the cast members?" Dust told Horror that everyone in the theatre was asked to stay at home or within the theatre's premises until the investigation was over. When the duo entered the lobby, Horror found Killer was waiting for him. It seemed like his friend knew that Horror was going to be there. "Horror! Oh, thank the stars you're here!" 

The relief was written all over Killer's face, as he hurried over to them. Before Killer could say anything more, Horror stopped him, "Killer, I need to know what happened on that day." The actor sniffed before telling the detective what he saw.

_ On that day, Killer ran up to the stage as soon as he realized that something was wrong.  _ **_ "X", Nightmare, Frisk, and Alphys were there with him _ ** _. _

"The doctor said  ** Lust died on the spot ** ," Horror wasn't sure what came to Killer's mind as he sighed and said, "At least it didn't look like he suffered much before he died." Horror jotted the information down onto his notepad after Killer finished talking. "Thank you for telling me, Killer. Now I need to speak to the other cast members. Mind telling me where they are?" Killer seemed conflicted for a few moments, before telling him.

" ** They had a huge fight with Ink about Lust just now. ** I'm not sure if they would answer your questions." Horror frowned at this information,  _ "Why would Ink have a fight about Lust?"  _ The maid didn't seem like someone who would start a fight. But he didn't know Ink very well so he couldn't say anything. Besides, it didn't change the fact that he needed to talk to all the witnesses. "Please." Killer nodded and took Horror and Dust to Bella's suite to see the others.

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

The moment Horror neared Lust's suite, he saw Ink, Muffet, X, and Nightmare at the suite entrance. The tense atmosphere was suffocating. Horror decided to ask Ink about Lust's condition on the day of the accident. "Was there anything off about him?" He asked the maid. Ink sounded upset and told the detective that Lust sent him to pick up something in town, and he'd only gotten back today. **** Horror could imagine how Ink felt right now. Discovering that Lust had died while he was away. 

Before Horror could dwell on it, Ink started to talk again, "Meanwhile, they seized the opportunity while I was away to discuss the new owner of the suite. And Lust hasn't even been laid to rest yet for christ's sake!" Ink threw his hands up in the air when he said the last part, startling the detective. Ink seemed furious, while Horror seemed shocked at the reveal.

"What...?" But before Horror could ask, Ink continued, "It turned out that ** X wanted me to pick up Lust's belongings so that Kroto could move in.  ** Can you believe that?!" 

Suddenly X broke the silence, "This is for the good of the show! The leading actor should stay here! He'll be more prepared for his debut," X defended. "What 'good'?" Ink asked the director. "Good for preparing the next person to die?"

Ink started to raise his voice, pain and resentment coated his words. X practically hissed at Ink, "Do you think I wanted this to happen?" Horror watched as  ** X got agitated. ** He seemed to be trying to glare a hole into Ink at this point.  ** "Haven't I suffered enough because of Chara?"  ** Suddenly, X's eye lights glazed over as a memory came into mind. 

"Seeing Lust lying in the middle of the stage brought me right back to that nightmare 10 years ago." His eye lights became sharp once again, and he slammed the door, leaving them standing in the wind. 

"I don't want to move in here. It's been cursed by Chara." Nightmare said quietly after X had left. ** He seemed a bit unhappy about finally becoming the female lead. ** Horror turned to face Lust's understudy with a questioning look. "What do you mean cursed?" Dust asked Nightmare, who ignored the sheriff, "Chara _ , are you calling me?' _ You heard that too, right? It happened when you were doing Lust's make-up for rehearsal." Horror followed Nightmare's gaze to see he was looking at Muffet, who had remained quiet throughout the entire ordeal. 

"M-Muffet... you heard it too, right?" The understudy asked once more. Muffet remained silent. Suddenly, Ink ran towards Nightmare, hands clenched in a fist. At first, Horror thought the maid was going to punch the other monster, but instead, Ink started to  ** accuse Nightmare of being X's lackey and spy. ** Nightmare didn't defend himself instead, they left the room as Ink's accusations intensified. With his target gone, Ink also returned to the maids' room. His loud footsteps fading into the distance. 

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

"Alright, can someone tell me what the fuck just happened?" The sheriff turned to look at Killer for an explanation, who immediately started to spill the beans. According to Killer, Lust always had his make-up done by the make-up artist in this suite before heading backstage via the side passages on the second floor.

Under normal circumstances, Nightmare couldn't have known what Lust had said, and so Ink's suspicion about Nightmare being a spy was reasonable. Horror quickly wrote down the new information into his notepad. "Thank you for the information, Killer." Killer nodded, before taking his leave. Only Horror and Dust were the ones left in the vast room with Muffet now.

As Horror went to question her, the spider monster stonewalled the detective by saying she'd already told the police everything she knew.  ** Her posture clearly said that she refused to communicate with Horror further, yet her deeply set eyes kept checking me out. **

After a few more attempts, Dust stopped him and suggested that he should talk to the others first while he tries to talk to Muffet for him. With no other choice left, Horror reluctantly agreed.

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

Once Horror left Lust's suite, he  ** observed the entire structure of the second floor in detail. ** Only two narrow passages were leading towards backstage on both sides of the floor. From what Killer had told him, Lust should have gone backstage the same way on that day. When the curtains raised, he got up on the platform. Then the platform was lowered and Lust ended up in the middle of the stage. At the point when the platform was being lowered, no other ways were leading backstage. 

"I should've probably go look for more witnesses before I jump to any conclusions." Horror went back the way he had come through earlier. The detective began to search the theatre for more witnesses. There was no one in the lobby area so there wasn't much for him to do there when he remembered the old new article that Dust sent him earlier today. 

** *Old news article... **

** [Read it?] **

** *[Yes]  ** [No]

_ An old news article reads, "Overdue Justice". _

_ 10 years ago, Diamond Rose Theatre's stage controller was held responsible and imprisoned for the accidental death of an actress, Chara.  _ **_ Today, stage design mechanical experts have conducted a more thorough safety analysis based on a record of the original stage. _ ** _ According to the official evaluation, there wasn't any operational or maintenance error on the part of the stage controller. This cleared his name. Unfortunately, the stage controller died of an illness shortly after he was imprisoned and couldn't see the day of his acquittal. _

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

Horror stored the old article away, "Maybe this incident could be an accident after all..." he thought to himself. As Horror arrived at the theatre, Alphys and Frisk were standing in front of the stage. He had no idea what they were discussing, but when he moved closer they saw him, and immediately stopped talking to look at each other. 

Frisk looked as if they wanted to say something, but Alphys nudged them in protest.  Alphys then walked over to Horror and said in a whisper, "M-Mr. Detective,  ** even t-though the d-director isn't letting F-Frisk say anything... ** I-I just t-thought that t-the truth s-shouldn't be s-shrouded like l-last time... I-I don't want the tragedy of K-Killer's father to h-happen again." Despite being a bit confused, Horror nodded anyways, "It's really brave of you to do this..." Alphys nodded and smiled shyly at him.  "F-Frisk and I were t-trying to recall what h-had happened on that d-day, and w-we thought something w-was odd." Horror's attention was focused not the two as they began to tell him.

According to Alphys, the stage was designed by a senior member of the theatre. She double-checked the design and even restored it a while back for other matters. Due to this,  ** there were no safety issues whatsoever. ** The platform could fit two people standing, and the elevation was smooth. The operation was simple --the actor only needed to press a button on the column and the platform would be lowered. There was no need to walk towards the edge of the platform and risk falling over

"Yet coincidences and accidents are inevitable," Horror said cautiously. He knew that accidents could happen anytime. Alphys nodded, "B-But that's n-not the oddest p-part." Sparrow led the detective near the platform.

" ** S-Someone pressed the platform's e-elevation button t-that day. ** " Horror frowned and examined the platform. Apparently, the buttons for raising and lowering the platform were installed on different columns to prevent actors from mixing them up. At the end of each performance, Alphys would raise the platform and reset the button until the next performance. They were here today to check the buttons and found that something was off --both buttons for raising and lowering the platform had been used. 

If what they were saying was true, it meant that someone other than Lust was on that platform that day, to lower and raise the platform again. Dread filled Horror's soul as his mind started to jump to conclusions. "Who else was on the second floor that day?" Horror asked. 

"You may h-have to check with B-Blueberry. O-On performance days, h-he's usually in c-charge of securing the s-second-floor entrance." Alphys adjusted her glasses, "The second f-floor is where the o-officials' and n-nobilities' private rooms are l-located, and t-they don't like to be d-disturbed." Horror finished writing down what Alphys had said and gave her a smile, "This is really helpful, thank you." Alphys nodded. 

Just as Horror was about to head off and find Blueberry, he felt someone grab the hem of his sleeve. Turning around he saw Frisk. Did they need something? Frisk looked up at the detective, and Horror saw that their eyes were puffy from crying. His soul stung at the sadness that swirled in their eyes, "P-Please..." they whispered in a hoarse voice, "Please catch whoever did this to Lust..." 

Horror patted their head and gave them a reassuring smile, "Don't worry... I'll catch whoever did this." Frisk let go and spoke once more, "You promise?" While Horror wasn't one to make promises, he felt determined to keep this one. 

"I promise." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What will Blueberry say...


	6. Suspicions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One particular suspect keeps on coming up in Horror’s investigation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Horror goes to question the bellboy to see if he knows anything... I wonder Blue will have to say.

Horror decided to check the suites since the lobby was empty, but he found no Blue in that area. "I'm starting to regret not asking Alphys and Frisk where he was..." Horror said under his breath as he walked into the gallery to see if Blue was in there, only to find no one. Despite that, he walked towards the portrait that was Lust's and stared at the actor.  Horror let out a small sigh at the beauty, "It feels like it was only yesterday that we ran into each other here." 

Horror didn't know what he was trying got achieve, but he continued anyway. "I promise you I'll get to the bottom of this. I'll bring justice to you." He bowed to the portrait. He felt a little silly for doing so, but he didn't seem to care that much. After a moment of silence, Horror outside of the gallery and hummed in thought. 

"Looks like my search for Blue continues." Just where was that bellboy?  _ "Check the lobby." _ Horror gasped, he hadn't checked the lobby since it had previously been empty last time he looked. "Since he's the bellboy, that means Blue wouldn't go far from his post!" Just before the detective could run off to the lobby, Horror froze. Maybe he was imagining it, but he swore he heard... he quickly shook his head. "No time." He thought, "I have to get Blue's story." 

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

Horror entered the lobby to find the morose Blueberry in the lobby.  ** It seemed that he was really affected Lust's death, ** Horror noted to himself. "Blueberry..." He called out to the other monster, "I've been looking all over for you." The bellboy startled when he looked up, but he seemed to calm down when he saw it was only Horror. 

"Oh... It's you, detective." Blue stated softly, "You were looking for me...?" The bellboy tilted his head in curiosity. He wondered what the detective wanted from him. "I just have a few questions I want you to answer for me." Ah, it must be for the case. Blue slowly nodded, he was willing to help, if it meant they could find out what really happened to Lust. 

"Can you tell me who reserved the entire aristocrat?" Blue thought for a few moments if he remembered correctly, the entire second floor was reserved by an aristocrat. "In my opinion, for an aristocrat, he seemed skittish and almost didn't make it on time for the performance. He never came down before the accident."

Horror stopped his writing as Blue described the aristocrat. He knew who it was.  ** This aristocrat was none other than Horror's client.  ** The detective quickly masked his shock. Luckily it seemed that the bellboy didn't notice. "Is that all?" He asked him. Blueberry nodded, "I see. Thank you, Blue. I appreciate your help." Blue shook his head, "It was nothing, detective. Please... find out who did this." Horror nodded and stored his notepad away, "I will."

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

Horror returned to Lust's suite with doubts. He didn't expect Gaster to be one of the suspects. He was the one that asked him to investigate what was going on with the main lead. 

" But... he could have done that just to throw me off the trail..." Horror didn't know what to make of the situation at the moment. As the detective entered the suite, he noticed that neither Muffet nor Dust was there. In the room instead was Ink, who was packing up Lust's belongings. He seemed to have accepted X's arrangement.

But Horror could still see the fury that raged in their colorful eye lights. Then at that moment, a pile of letters in the corner of the room caught his attention. Horror asked Ink to show him the letters. They hesitated for a few moments before handing them over. 

"These are all from Lust's fans, but the pile seems to have gotten bigger since I put them away last time," Ink muttered. Horror stared at the humongous pile and nodded. It really was a huge pile of letters, and most of the letters were just ordinary fan letters, but then one of the envelope designs caught the detective's attention  ** \-- it was Gazter's personalized design... **

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

Not long after, Killer asked him to meet him in the lobby. When Horror arrived at the lobby, he saw Killer looking amused. "Do you need anything?" Horror asked the main actor. Killer shook his head, a funny smile on his face as he did. 

"What was I thinking?" Killer said, " ** If there's one good person left in town, it's either Alphys, Frisk, or you. ** "

Horror furrowed his brows at the comment. Was that supposed to be a compliment? What was he supposed to say to this? Thank you?  Killer seemed to sense his confusion and started explaining how Muffet told him that the cast of the performance was only finalized in the morning on that day.

Which was quite strange. Why would they finalize the cast for the performance, on the day they were supposed to perform? Killer told the detective that Lust finally won,  ** yet he refused to rehearse in the afternoon ** . Even so, X chose to cancel the rehearsal and not change the cast. At dusk, Muffet went upstairs to help Lust with his make-up as usual. Yet Nightmare informed her that he would rather do his own make-up and asked Muffet to look after the others instead. 

"Muffet wasn't happy about that, but she put it out of her mind since Lust''s temper had been... fluctuating lately." Horror frowned at the mention of Lust having a temper. When he met the actor, Lust was calm and kind to him. Horror stored the thought into the back of his mind for later, when Killer started to talking again, "Muffet told me that  ** her keen sense of smell made Lust cautious of her ** . For whatever reason." 

Killer wiped the dark liquid that ran down his cheeks, "When Muffet had visited last time, she mentioned a special scent on Lust that caught her attention." A special scent? "It was fading, but Muffet said she could tell that it was a scent obtained by multiple refinements. And that the only two places where she noticed the special scent was in Lust's room, and the platform from which he fell." Horror nodded slowly, at the reveal. Seemed like Muffet knew something after all. "Thank you, Killer." He flipped at the notes he had taken, "This is... a lot, man." Killer chuckled and nodded. 

" Well, good luck, Horror. I hope I was at least able to help." His friend exited the lobby, leaving the detective alone. Horror began to review his notes, trying to find a connection between the three places and what he had learned earlier today. Then he realized that all the clues about this fragrance came from the same thing... 

Horror frowned, making a mental note to himself.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to ask Dust to further investigate Lust's death..." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hoped you enjoyed this chapter ^v^)/  
> I’m trying my best to make the chapters long and add drawings >w<)


	7. The Report

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Horror receives the results for the autopsy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know monsters usually turn into dust when they die, but for the sake for the sake of my story... I’m going to make it so that when a monster dies they do not turn into dust immediately. Their bodies remain intact for a week or two (it depends on how powerful they are)

Horror groaned as he was awoken to the sound of his alarm clock. While he would rather continue on sleeping, the detective knew that the report for the autopsy would be coming in today. "What time is it anyway?" Horror opened his eyes and stared sleepily at the clock. "Oh... it's 7:30..." he mumbled to himself before pausing, "Wait... 7:30?"

Wasn't that the time the report was supposed to arrive? "Oh shit!" Horror practically scrambled out of bed, the sleep that blanketed him gone. The detective hurried down the stairs so fast, he was sure he missed a few steps along the way. Horror made it to the front door to find a sealed envelope that had been slipped under the door. He picked it up to find it was indeed the report. Horror carefully opened the letter, despite his eagerness to tear it open. Unfolding the report, he began to read what Dust had found out. 

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

_According to the autopsy report provided by the Society, the time of death was around 5 pm. The body's injuries from the fall were post-mortem and not the cause of death. The real cause of death was poison. Further investigation is still required, but it was discovered that the toxin was a mixture of plant extracts._

"Poison..." Horror whispered to himself. He hoped whatever poison was used didn't make Lust suffer too much. It was a grim thing to think about, but he really did hope that Lust didn't suffer. Just as Horror was about to store the letter, he noticed another piece of paper inside the envelope. "Huh? This is..." When he saw the writing he instantly knew who wrote this. 

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

Dear Detective,

The further investigation into Lust's death that you wished to conduct was otherwise straightforward. Though as I expected I ran into some difficulties when investigating the gentleman initially. I had to resort to some... peculiar tactics to get his cooperation. (Don't ask me how I did it.) To prove his innocence, that gentleman removed the restrictions against Lust's investigation and introduced us to the Medical Society for an autopsy on Lust's body. Guess what fucking happened. **He was proved innocent.** According to the Society's report, **Lust was dead before the performance began.** And our gentleman was in the council all afternoon, which all of the city's dignitaries could testify in his favor. **He wouldn't have the time to commit the crime.**

I know this sounds outrageous, which is why I hope you'll point me to the truth.

P.S. The other suspects are waiting for you at the theatre.

Your friend (who is very close to strangling someone),

Sheriff Dust.

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

Horror couldn't help but chuckle at the last part. That definitely sounded like Dust. "I'm kinda relieved..." Knowing that Gaster wasn't the one who killed Lust lifted a weight he didn't know was there, off his chest. Horror placed the envelope onto the dining room table and checked the time. The detective winces slightly. "If I hurry, I might just be able to eat some toast." He rushed up the stairs to get dressed. 

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

Knowing that the Society's conclusion was final, Horror returned to the theatre to start the investigation all over again. Now that he had more clues, Horror was certain that he would be able to catch the culprit this time. He asked the members of the theatre to go to the lobby so that he could piece together what had happened that afternoon. To his surprise, Killer was the first to arrive. "Killer, I know I've already asked you this question, but I'll ask again. What did X say to you?"

Killer shook his head, "It's fine... I know you have to do this." According to Killer, **it was the director who relayed the message that Lust refused to attend the last rehearsal**. "While I was a bit ticked off, I wasn't surprised." He told Horror. "And why is that?" The detective asked his friend, who shrugged. "Cause by that time, Nightmare could take on Lust's role convincingly, so I didn't really care who I was going to perform with." Horror scribbled Killer's words down on his notepad.

"The last rehearsal went smoothly and ended at around 4 pm. **I went with Sci to check out Alphy's stage preparations in the theatre**." Killer hummed as he thought back at what happened next, "At 6 pm, the "Commander" called us to dinner, and the others went to prepare for the evening's performance." 

The actor told Horror that Error was the next to arrive. Killer said because of Error's background, he's always been into doll making. He would always make a couple of dolls, before each opening performance, **which he also did on that day**. Since Lust's death brought back memories of Chara's mystery, this place has recently been labeled the cursed theatre, which made Error paranoid about ghosts-"

"ShUt Up, KIlLeR! YoU dOn'T kNoW aNyThInG!" Error screeched as he interrupted Killer. Horror nearly jumped at the sudden voice. "ChArA dIeD wItH a GrUdGe. ThAt'S wHy ShE cOuLdN't Go To ThE aFtErLiFe! ShE sTiLl LiNgErS hErE." 

Error glanced around the lobby nervously before focusing on the closed doors of the theatre. Almost like they were afraid that Chara's ghost might come out.

"Grudge? What did Chara have a grudge about?" Horror asked. 

Error didn't respond and drifted mysteriously towards the corner away from the crowd. 

"It was rumored that Chara had to leave the theatre back then because the theatre was about to become insolvent." Horror turned around to find Shears walking towards him, "Yet after Chara died, **the director received a substantial settlement as the beneficiary of a huge insurance policy and the theatre survived**." Horror frowned at Shears's words, "If these were all true, what do you think Chara would have a grudge about?"

If "ghosts" really did exist, Horror was sure Chara would have some sort of grudge against, the director and theatre. "I see... anyways... would you mind telling me where you were that day?"

Shears then proceeded to **hand a piece of newspaper to Horror.** He told the detective what he always does in the afternoon every day -- **he would read the newspapers in the lobby** to look for fashion inspirations, and that he did the same when the incident happened. Both Error, who was making dolls in the lobby, and Dream, who was preparing dinner, could testify for him. Another suspect checked off his list it seems.

"Bookending? **Isn't it writers' favorite technique?"** Just when Horror was about to read the newspaper Shears had given him, Dream joined in their conversation. "What?" Before Horror could say anything more, Dream began to talk about Chara. 

"You know... I suppose Chara could be considered a mix between Nightmare and Lust. While Lust was kind, caring, they were also a bit of a... slut... But falling off the stage during the opening performance? Such a thing might have happened to Lust, who had been slacking off lately. But for it to have happened to Chara, who had never missed a rehearsal and never made a single mistake, a genius who's deadly serious to the point of pathological? That's not very credible."

Horror blinked owlishly at what Dream said. He almost didn't catch half of what they said. But Horror was able to tell that they had no idea what Lust's actual cause of death was. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who do you think killed/poisoned Lust?  
> Also I hoped you enjoyed this chapter ^v^)


	8. “Why can’t any of you see...?”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk defends Lust’s reputation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All I can say is enjoy =)

"That's nonsense!"

Lust's loyal supporter, Frisk, rushed over and gave Dream a glare. 

"He's already gone. Why do you still have to ruin his reputation?" Tears glistened in their eyes. "Lust didn't slack off! He was merely off his game lately!"

Frisk turned to their friend, Alphys, and tugged on their coat. "Tell them!" They said in desperation, "Tell them what you saw!"  ** Alphys nodded and supported Frisk's view with the fact that she and Frisk had returned to the theatre late one night to retrieve something she had left behind, ** and they found Lust practicing by himself at the platform. "H-He was working really hard!" The tears slipped down Frisk's cheeks as they tried to prove that Lust wasn't anything that Dream had said. 

"Lust tried his best! For the theatre and his younger brother!" Horror offered Frisk his handkerchief, which they happily accepted, "He always talked about how much he loved Pink!" They wiped away their tears and continued on, "I know he used to be a prostitute, okay?! But he's changed! Lust wanted to change! Why... why can't any of you see that...?"

Alphys rubbed Frisk's back to comfort them. The other cast members looked at each other as if trying to see what the others thought, when suddenly a new voice broke out, "That wasn't Lust,  ** that was Nightmare,"  ** Muffet revealed, "What...?" Frisk shook their head in denial. The person they saw on stage was definitely Lust. "How do you know, Muffet?" Horror asked the Make-up artist. 

"I once walked by the theatre late at night and heard realized coming from inside. When I walked closer, I found Nightmare practicing." She told the detective, "I thought it was Lust at first, but I realized that this person was  ** imitating Chara's movements and voice ** , something Lust would never do." Muffet sigh, "Besides, Lust really wasn't at his best during that time, so perhaps Nightmare thought  ** it was time to imitate someone else."  **

**** Horror frowned at this information. If what Muffet said was true then what night patroller had told him would make sense.  _ According to a night patroller, not long before Lust died,  _ **_ he often heard singing coming from the theatre _ ** _ when he was patrolling behind the Diamond Rose Theatre at night. Sometimes the voice sounded like Lust, and sometimes it sounded like Chara, who died years ago. _

Guess it wasn't the ghost of Chara like the others said. Horror snorted at the foolish idea. "Ghosts don't exist after all."

" ** But I found an empty crystal bottle near the platform."  ** Horror turned around to find the bellboy. **** recognized bottle?" The detective asked. Blue nodded, "It was then taken away by Ink. I-I recognized the bottle." Blue fidgeted with his blue bandanna, "It was a gift for Lust from Gaster. I accepted the delivery on his behalf a few times. S-So I could tell!"

It appears Blueberry was on the side of Frisk and Alphys. "Do you mind telling me what the bottle looked like?" Horror had his fingers crossed, that the bellboy would remember. Seems like luck was on his side as Blue nodded. He described the bottle in great detail. Saying that it was purple, had a round bottom, and was slightly transparent.

As the bellboy continued to describe the bottle, Horror noticed that Muffet looked incredibly pale. The moment she heard that it was a crystal bottle with a short and round neck. She grabbed onto Blueberry and asked him when it had happened. "I-I... It was a week before opening night..." as soon as those words left the frightened bellboy, Muffet quickly walked towards the second floor. As everyone watched the spider monster runoff, Horror continued asking Blueberry about that day. 

"Tell me what exactly happened Blue. This is really important." The bellboy recalled that when rehearsal was over that afternoon, "I was already prepping security at the second-floor entrance. The majority of the others were on the first floor the entire afternoon." Blue told the detective, "When the performance was about to begin,  ** the director went upstairs to inform Lust as usual ** . He came back down when Gaster arrived. Which time Nightmare has just gone upstairs..." Blueberry scratched his head. 

"  ** Now that ** ** I think about it... I never saw him come downstairs all night. ** " Horror paused as an idea began to form in his head. "Looks like it's time to have a chat with the new leading actor." Besides Horror was also bothered by Muffet's behavior just now. Maybe she will have the key to unlock this case. 

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

As soon as Horror reached Lust's suite, he heard a heated argument coming from inside.

"He stopped using that a long time ago,  ** ever since that thing was outlawed."  ** Judging from the voice it was probably Ink, who seemed to be in the middle of explaining something. Horror could tell that he seemed hesitant, and not very convincing. A familiar voice shot back at Ink, "Then what was it that you took from Blueberry? Didn't he end things with Gaster? A liar always gets what they deserve." It was Muffet. Despite the harsh words the spider monster said, she didn't sound like she was gloating. No, she sounded sad.

"I have no idea who gave that to him, but I'm sure it wasn't Gaster," Ink argued. "After the visit from that Detective,  ** X forced him to send an invitation to Gaster. ** That's been their only communication lately."  Ink told Muffet. 

Horror then heard the director interrupt, "So you all knew that that gentleman had taken a liking to Lust? Even you," X said pompously, with a hint of spite. "I once thought that I could trust you, Muffet." 

Horror heard Muffet scoffed, who seemingly admitted to it all. "Ever since you took Chara's compensation to rebuild the theatre and recruited Lust,  ** there has never been any trust between us ** ." Muffet hissed at the director. With that said, the suite went dead silent, until Nightmare came up next to Horror, startling the detective. 

"What are you doing here?" The understudy asked the detective. Horror knew that this was his chance to get some answers. Turning around he smiled at Nightmare, "I was actually looking for you, Nightmare." He said politely, "I was wondering if you could answer a few questions for me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh... what had Lust been doing behind the curtains?


	9. Quivering Flower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Horror reveals the truth behind Lust’s death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter before act 1 ends. But at this moment... it’s time for the truth to be revealed.

"I have a question for you, Nightmare." Horror replied calmly. A look of panic flashed across Nightmare's face, but it quickly disappeared as he regained his composure. "What do you want to ask me, detective?"

"At the time of the incident, where were you?" Horror asked.

"I didn't have to perform that day, so naturally, I was resting on the second floor," Nightmare seemed to have anticipated that Horror would ask that question, and answered calmly. Horror couldn't help but smile at the answer. 

"But according to the police report, you were one of the witnesses on the scene said you had gone on stage with Killer," the detective innocently replied. Nightmare fidgeted with his sleeves, "I... I went down only after when I hear that something had happened," Horror noticed the nervousness in their purple eye lights, and he knew Nightmare wasn't telling him the whole truth. Because he knew that Nightmare couldn't be resting on the second floor. 

"I've studied the structure of the theatre. There are only two ways to get from the second floor to the first. One way is to go through the hallway guarded by Blueberry. Blueberry said he never saw you coming down all night. **The other way... is to go through the platform where Bella fell."**

Fear was written all over the understudy's face as Nightmare exposed his lie. "So it was you who pushed Lust off the platform. And before Lust died, she left us an important clue," Before Nightmare had any chance to defend himself, Horror and continued on. "For the purple scarf found at the scene, you would have known better than anyone else whom it should belong to, and whom it actually belonged to. Once I tell everyone about this, then the police will know too."

It was a complete lie. In fact, his lie would only cover up another lie, only so long as everyone pretended that they didn't know. Horror knew that this was going to be a gamble. If everyone kept quiet then he wouldn't be able to expose them. He could only hope for someone to speak up. 

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

"You murderer!"

Ink rushed towards Nightmare in a rage. His eye lights were now red. "You knew Lust wouldn't get in the way between you and Gaster, but you killed him anyway!" He pushed Nightmare onto the floor and wrestled with him. Muffet and X quickly pulled them apart. Purple tears glistened in the understudy's eyes.

"I-I didn't kill him! Lust was dead before he went on stage!" Nightmare screeched before turning to X, "Director! Tell them! I didn't kill him! I only brought him under the platform!" 

Everyone was looking at X as he retreated to the side and sat down, all tensed up.

"I... I don't know. Nightmare has always been jealous of Lust... It's not impossible that he wouldn't push Lust off the platform." X replied, **a wavering expression on his face. The director seemed to be struggling with himself.** Nightmare stared at X in disbelief, his tears falling onto the carpet floor. The understudy slowly shook his head and collapsed on the floor in despair.

"I-I... I didn't kill..." Horror sighed to himself, "I guess a lie can expose the truth, so long as everyone pretended that they know." The detective thought to himself. "Be thankful for the medicine, Nightmare. Perhaps you should also be grateful to Gaster whom you sought connection with. Nightmare looked up at Horror, " The inspection report proved that you weren't lying. You probably really weren't there at the time of Lust's death."

Horror's words made Nightmare breathe a sigh of relief as if he had been pardoned. 

"But then when the performance had begun, it was you on that platform, right?" Nightmare looked away and nodded seeming almost ashamed of himself.

Nightmare then confessed that he had gone upstairs after rehearsal on that day when X, told him about Lust's death. **"X wanted to cheat on the insurance policy so he didn't call the police."** Nightmare told Horror, "He asked me to perform disguised as Lust. A-and **to push Lust's body off the platform when the lights went out, to make it look like an accident."** Nightmare trembled in what seemed to be rage, "But I never thought that he would try and frame me with that scarf!" Nightmare glared at X and pointed at the director, 

"Perhaps, he's the actual murderer!" Everyone looked at the detective, waiting for his verdict. Horror only shook his head. 

"Judging from Lust's actual time of death in the inspection report, all of you had a solid alibi." The cast members stood in disbelief at his words. "W-What do you mean?" Frisk asked the detective, who gave them a grim expression. Horror thought back on the purple scarf, the personalized letter, and the special scent.

As much as he didn't want this to be the truth, it unfortunately was. "I'm afraid that the scarf's original purpose was simply to awaken Gaster's short-lived admiration, and to make him prevent the police from performing an autopsy." 

His eye lights settled on the delicate dresser, where several small bottles were neatly arranged. If one looked closer, they would notice that it was a set of crystal bottles. Walking over to the dresser, Horror picked up one of the bottles. Ink rushed over and tried to snatch it away. But when detective stopped him, that's when Ink started yelling that it was just an ordinary bottle.

Horror shook his head to deny Ink's claim, "My sense of smell might not be as sensitive as Muffet's, but I believe that the Society would be able to tell what this used to contain." Horror looked over at Ink, Nightmare, and X. "Perhaps we can make a deal. You tell me what this is, and I'll tell you how Lust got ahold of it."

Muffet bit her lip, debating whether or not to tell him. Finally, she let out a sigh. " **Quivering Flower, that's what they called it.** " 

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

Horror heard about Quivering Flower before. From what he knows, it was a _reagent that's said to invigorate women's energy, making their eyes sparkle, and their movements alluring. It's extracted from a certain plant, and the odor in the initial extraction was rather unpleasant, and couldn't be removed. The reason why this reagent wasn't popular and had been dormant for years. But someone dissolved a fragrant plant's extract into the reagent later on and solved this problem. That's how this reagent, known as Quivering Flower, became popular in the city. Yet, given the complex extraction process, its price is high. It's usually only used by the noblewomen in the city or by those who receive bottles of Quivering Flower as gifts from the nobility._ **_Rumor has it that many of Gaster's companions have received this magical gift._ **

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

Horror heard the gasps that came from the other members. But Muffet ignored the shocked members, "It's your turn," Muffet replied. Horror nodded, "Remember how both you and Frisk saw someone practicing late at night?" He asked. Muffet nodded.

"You were both right, except you were talking about different nights. Both Lust and Nightmare likely practiced late at night before, which was how Nightmare might have found out that Lust was using Quivering Flower." Muffet seemed to pale a little, "But as you know Quivering Flower was later outlawed, due to it being made by the poisonous flower, Belladonna."

Horror smiled sadly, "But by then Lust already had a mild case of drug addiction, and had gotten worse with the increasing pressure you were putting on him." The cast members looked down in shame at Horror's words, "At that time, my visit exposed Nightmare's disguise as Lust in front of Gaster. To pacify him, Nightmare must have asked Lust for help and told him the truth."

Horror looked at Nightmare, who looked away, "Everyone must have known that Gaster would give his female companions Quivering Flower, including you, Nightmare. To avoid Lust finding out, Nightmare must have never used it. Due to this, he had extra's to make a deal with Lust. **Lust knew it was risky to use it again, but since the performances were coming up, he ultimately agreed.** "

Horror handed the crystal bottle to Nightmare. "Did I get that right, Nightmare?" He asked the understudy. With all eyes on Nightmare, he nodded dejectedly. The gorgeous suite fell into dead silence as the case finally came to an end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clarify things to you, Lust died from poisoning, most likely from overdose of "Quivering Flower". Nightmare and X only planned to push him off the platform. Lust died before the performance.
> 
> Such a tragic end for him, don’t you think?
> 
> Anyways... we have one more chapter before act 2 begins! So be prepared =)


	10. The Conclusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The conclusion to Horror’s investigation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy =)

Horror handed the final investigation findings to Dust, yet the obituary published in the newspapers soon after maintained that Lust died of an accident. He couldn't help but guess that Gaster must have something to do with it.

But it was no longer his concern.

Besides, people wouldn't be interested in the whole story, like how they wouldn't be interested to know --why Nightmare didn't simply push Lust's body off the platform in the first place, in which case he wouldn't have been suspected at all?

Like how they wouldn't be interested to know --did X really make use of Chara's death to obtain the compensation fraudulently back then? Or how they wouldn't be interested to know --why Lust drank the reagent when he clearly knew of the risks. Sometimes Horror thought, _"Was this ending the one he had hoped for?"_ But the detective knew he wouldn't know the answer. After all, Lust had taken it to the grave. 

For a while, people reminisced the premature wilting of the most beautiful flower in the spotlight, yet they soon turned their attention to the latest beauty, just like his client.

Three months later, Horror reencountered Nightmare, he found out that the actor had left the Diamond Rose Theatre, and joined a new theatre group. Perhaps time really can mend all wounds. He wasn't reluctant to talk about what had happened, so Horror presented him with many questions. From whether Chara died of murder or by accident, to questions on why he didn't push Lust off the platform. He answered his questions without concealment.

"Other than myself, no one understands how much effort I have invested in presenting an opening act worthy of attention and a finale worthy of praise," Nightmare told him. 

As for him? Well, once Horror received his commission, he sealed his files concerning the Diamond Rose Theatre and prepared to continue with his investigations into the other matters...

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ--ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

They watched the actors below perform. The audience smiled and applauded the performers as they all bowed. Tears fell from the spectator's eyes as they saw how happy everyone in the room was. It wasn't fair... It just wasn't fair.

The sadness that had previously coated their soul shifted into something else. Something different. The ugly feeling bubbling inside of them, the longer they watched. The air around them grew darker and colder... 

**H̶̨̼͓̺̲̉͆e̸̢͍̳̟͕̤̦̩̪͍̤͍̒̋͑̈̇ ̵̧̡̧̺̺̼̻̮̯͙̘͚̮͌̈́̈̈͑ͅh̵̢̧̰̲̼̭͇͛͂͂͒̿̓́̚̕̕A̴̜͂̽̂̎ṭ̶̥̺͆͗Ē̸̩̲̭̂̏́́͂̿́̓͆̐̚ͅd̸͇̦̦͚̠̋͐̇̈́̾̚ ̵̟͓̭͔̭̲̟̥̺͈̻̳̉̅T̶̛̹̊̎́́̋̒̌̌̉h̶̦̔͊͂͒̂̐́̽́̊̋͘̕̕E̸̼̘͔̲͙̞̞̟̪̱͌̒̉̌͑̏̍̒̎̚͘ͅͅm̴̨̬̱͕̺̺̺̤͉̩̈.̴̡͎̣̜̮̳̤̮̱̹͈̻̰͆̂̀́͗̌͛͝.̷̧̛̛̲̩͈̓́̀̾̒̀͐̇̽͊̕͝͝.̷̧̢̝̤̖̼͓̫̗̺̭͈̠̄̃̒͆̾̾́̽̍̃̃̚͜.̴̢̡͔̙̦̜̜̯̪̖̳̣̓̔̐̄͝͝**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**[ACT 1 END...]**

***Continue?**

***[YES] [NO]**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally finished act 1! Act 2 will begin soon... so buckle up! For we’re in for a ride!


	11. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ^v^)

Lust humming the play’s song

It was all fun and games, until Killer realized his lines were also in French

Dress rehearsal 

Detective Horror 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the drawings! 0w0)


	12. Act 2: An Invitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A year had passed since the tragedy...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Act 2 begins! I hope you guys didn’t mind waiting ^v^)  
> It’s shorter than I expected... guess I’ll try and make the next chapter longer than -w-)  
> Anyways... on with the show!

A full year had passed since Horror had investigated the famous "Diamond Rose Theatre." And if he was being honest, his mind was slowly forgetting about the case. Though every now and then, the detective would look back on the investigation. Thinking of the tragedy that befell the theatre. It always made him feel sad afterward. Since then, Horror had received more commissions and clients. He really had to work himself down to the  ** bone ** (heh) with all the incoming commissions. Like an ongoing affair, for example. 

Not that he was complaining. Since he received a pretty decent amount of G from his clients. Besides the numerous commissions, life was going pretty well for the detective. As the days went on, the memories of the "Diamond Rose Theatre" started to fade. Well... that was until he received a letter from his old friend Killer. Horror had just come back from the market and found a sealed envelope in his mailbox. At first, he thought it was just another commission, but then Horror saw the familiar beautiful rose seal on the letter. 

"This is..." 

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Once again, Horror found himself entering the doors of the Diamond Rose Theatre. There waiting for him, as he did last time, in the lobby was no other than Killer. But this time, he was the owner of the theater. Turns out, Killer had amassed a vast fortune(from god knows where) and purchased the deed for the sizable estate. "Horror! I'm so glad that you could make it." The detective smiled at his friend, "Well, I couldn't decline your invitation, could I?" Horror was pretty sure that Killer would have kept sending him letters until he eventually agreed. Killer giggled mischievously, almost as if he knew what Horror was thinking. "Why don't you sit down?" Killer motioned for the detective to sit, which Horror gladly did. "So. How have things be going for you? Being the new owner and all." Killer plopped himself down onto the chair across Horror, and let out a sigh. 

"Well, I have gotten busier. Gotta manage the financials, the plays, and the staff..." Killer told his friend, "But I think I'm doing a pretty decent job." Horror nodded before telling Killer how he's been. As the duo caught up with each other, Horror couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. Yet whenever he looked around, the detective saw nothing. "Horror?" Was he being too paranoid, perhaps? **"Horror!"** Horror looked up to find Killer looking at him in concern. "You okay, buddy? You kinda spaced out." Had he really been that lost in his thoughts? Horror gave Killer a reassuring smile, "I'm okay, Killer. Just a bit tired, actually." To his relief, Killer seemed convinced and offered to make him a cup of coffee. Which Horror wasn't going to decline, cause he needed some coffee in his systems right now. 

As Killer ran off to make brew some coffee for him, the unsettling feeling he had gotten earlier returned. This time, it had gotten stronger. Horror couldn't help but feel ill. What made the detective even more unsettled, was the fact that he could not identify why he was feeling this way. " _ Maybe, I'm not getting enough sleep." _ Horror rubbed his eye sockets, before shivering. "Is it just me or did the room just suddenly become colder?" It felt as if someone had lowered the temperature in the room. It wouldn't have bothered him if it wasn't for the fact that an eerie silence had coated the room. 

It was almost as if everything had stopped. The detective shifted uncomfortably in his chair, not knowing what to do. Just what was happening? Just as Horror was about to go find Killer, his friend entered the room. "I got the coffee!" The tear marked skeleton announced. The cold temperature disappeared almost instantly, and Horror let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Killer." He wasn't sure if he was thanking his friend for the coffee or for stopping whatever had been happening. Maybe it was both. Killer handed him the coffee, which Horror happily accepted. "I hope I didn't leave you hanging for too long." Horror shook his head, "It's alright. I didn't mind waiting." The detective took a sip of the coffee and blinked in surprise. Killer was looking at Horror expectingly, waiting for the detective's reaction. 

"You still remembered how I like my coffee..." Killer nodded, a soft smile on his face. "Yup. I remembered." Horror was impressed that Killer had remembered how he liked his coffee, after all those years. It was a pleasant surprise. Horror smiled slightly to himself as he drank the coffee. As the two enjoyed their cup of coffee, they failed to notice the hateful presences that left the room. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter ^v^)  
> I wonder what will happen next... guess you’ll just have to wait and see =)


	13. A Chat Over Coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Killer tells Horror why he brought him here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s a bit short... but I hope you still enjoy it ^v^)

As Horror drank his cup of coffee, the detective couldn't help but ask himself why Killer invited him here.

He was positive that his friend wouldn't just invite him over for just a cup of coffee. It wasn't like Killer to do that. Soon Horror's curiosity got the better of him, "Killer, why did you call me here?"

His friend looked up at him, seeming surprised for a few moments, but it was soon replaced with a smile.

"Guess I can't hide anything from you, huh?" Amusement laced in Killer's voice as he spoke. Horror stared at Killer in silence for a few moments before speaking, "I'm a fucking detective, Killer. Of course, you can't hide shit from me."

The tear-marked skeleton burst out laughing at that. Killer's laughter filled the usually somber lobby. Despite his best efforts, Horror couldn't hold back his laughter. After a few more giggles were exchanged, Killer sighed in amusement.

"Ha... It's been a while since I had a good laugh." The tear-marked skeleton wiped away at the black liquid coming from his eye sockets. Horror took a set his cup of coffee onto the table, "Killer, Did something happen?" Asked the detective.

His friend's face turned serious, and he nodded. Horror held up his hand to stop Killer from saying anything else, "Don't tell me... did someone die?" The detective thought back on what had happened when he last came here.

"No, but they did come close to dying." Horror straightened himself up in his seat, "Tell me what happened." Was this new case going to turn into attempted murder? The tear-marked skeleton let out a sigh, leaning back into the sofa as he thought back to the events that had happened a few days prior.

"During practice, one of my actors nearly got crushed by a falling stage light." Killer clenched his teeth, clearly not happy. "After making sure they weren't hurt, I noticed that the rope of the stage light had been cut."

Horror hummed in thought. That was quite serious. And bold of them to try and kill someone in broad daylight. "Did you see anyone?" Asked the detective, Killer shook his head, "That's the thing. I didn't see anyone. Neither did anyone backstage. And this isn't even the first attempt either!"

Horror blinked at those words. "What do you mean, not the first attempt?" Killer shook his head and let out a sigh, "A few weeks ago, an actor of mine fell down the stairs. But the way they fell looked as if someone had shoved them."

Killer took another sip of his coffee, "The performance is coming up soon, and I don't know what to do... so I called you." The plea in his friend's voice was noticeable, and Horror couldn't turn down this request. 

  
"Alright... I'll help you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoped you enjoyed the chapter despite it being host ^v^);

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading! Feel free to leave a comment! If you have any questions about the character feel free to ask me ^v^)
> 
> Asks are open!
> 
> http://coolbattlegirl.tumblr.com/

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [A Maid terror](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27283573) by [LoveLikeYou000000](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoveLikeYou000000/pseuds/LoveLikeYou000000)




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